Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Leader of the House

Departmental Written Questions

Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 18 November 2008, Official Report, column 252W, on departmental written questions, what the cost of preparing that answer was. [239293]

Chris Bryant:
Under the guidance issued by Her Majesty's Treasury, we have estimated that the marginal cost, based on the amount of staff time spent preparing the answer, was £288.11.

Parliamentary Scrutiny: EC Law

Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Leader of the House if she will bring forward plans to reform the House's scrutiny of European legislation. [238070]

Chris Bryant:
No. The House agreed only recently to put its experimental structure for the scrutiny of the EU legislation on a permanent footing on 12( )November.

Select Committees: Regulation

Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Leader of the House if she will bring forward proposals to establish a Select Committee to (a) monitor the work of and (b) hold to account public regulators; and if she will make a statement. [237549]

Chris Bryant:
Scrutiny of the work of public regulators is the responsibility of the relevant departmental Select Committees. It would be difficult in practice to carry out effective scrutiny of public regulators which was separate from the wider scrutiny functions of the departmental committees.

This aspect of their work has recently been strengthened by the establishment of pre-appointment hearings, as proposed in the Governance of Britain Green Paper (Cm7342) and agreed to by the Liaison Committee in May.

A full list of the regulators who will be subject to pre-appointment hearings is set out in the First Special Report of the Liaison Committee, Session 2007-08, HC 594, pages 5 to 8.

Scotland

Departmental Absenteeism

Mr. Jeremy Browne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the rate of staff (a) absence and (b) sickness absence was in his Department in each year since 1997; what the target rates set for his Department are in each case; and if he will make a statement. [238934]

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Ann McKechin:
The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

All staff are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice; the Office does not maintain a central record of sick absences. Such records are held by the parent Departments who publish their sick absence statistics.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mr. Heald:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of provision of Government cars to special advisers in his Department has been in the last 12 months. [238176]

Ann McKechin:
The Scotland Office have not incurred any costs for special advisers using Government cars.

Departmental Pay

Mr. Ancram:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what bonuses were paid by his Department in 2007-08; to which members of staff; and for what purposes. [239656]

Ann McKechin:
Staff in the Scotland Office are seconded from the Scottish Executive (SE) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) who each have bonus schemes, part of which relate to annual performance appraisal. The Scotland Office does not hold information on bonus payments under the annual performance appraisal systems. Under the Special Bonus Scheme of the SE and the Reward and Recognition Scheme of the MoJ, the Office may also directly authorise bonus payments for special effort, achievement and commitment; the following table shows the number and cost of such non-pensionable bonuses:

Total number of bonuses

Total cost of bonuses (£)

2007-08

6

£2,150

Members of the Senior Civil Service in the Scotland Office are also seconded from the Scottish Executive and the Ministry of Justice, their bonuses are assessed under a framework set by the Cabinet Office. The Office does not hold central information on such bonuses.

Departmental Postal Services

Daniel Kawczynski:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department uses the Royal Mail as the primary company for sending its post, parcels and packages. [238324]

Ann McKechin:
The Royal Mail carried most of the letters and parcels sent by the Scotland Office in each of the last three years.

Departmental Procurement

Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether there has been any nugatory cost to his Department relating to tendered procurement where the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last three years. [239654]

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Ann McKechin:
The Scotland Office have incurred no costs relating to tendered procurement where the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last three years.

Public Opinion

Mr. Jeremy Browne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year since 1997-98; how much he estimates will be spent on each category in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [239048]

Ann McKechin:
The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. The Scotland Office incurred no costs on focus groups and opinion polls between 1999-2000 and 2007-08. The Office's estimated spend in 2008-09 on focus groups, to solicit views of voters to the Gould recommendations, is expected to be £24,500; no costs are anticipated on opinion polls.

Redundancy

Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of his Department's staff who left under (a) an involuntary and (b) a voluntary exit scheme in each year since 2005-06 received a severance package of (i) up to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000; and if he will make a statement. [239153]

Ann McKechin:
The Scotland Office does not operate staff exit schemes. All staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice; who remain their employers. It is these Departments who would operate any such exit schemes.

House of Commons Commission

Disabled

Simon Hughes:
To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many and what proportion of staff of the House were recorded as being disabled at 1 January 2008. [238570]

Nick Harvey:
76 staff have declared that they have a disability. This represents 3.85 per cent. of the Houses employees. I will write to my hon. Friend with further information.

Electoral Administration Act 2006

Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 191W, on the Electoral Administration Act 2006, what the status is of the discussions between the House authorities and the Electoral Commission on ending dual reporting. [239693]

Nick Harvey:
Discussions are continuing. It is not yet known when they will reach a conclusion.

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Olympics

Olympic Games 2012: Transport

Hugh Robertson:
To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether any plans have been made to accommodate extra caravaners near to London 2012 Olympics during the games. [239233]

Tessa Jowell:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 18 November 2008, Official Report, column 258W.

Northern Ireland

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department and its agencies have spent on (a) flat screen televisions, (b) DVD players and (c) stereo equipment in each of the last three years. [237443]

Mr. Woodward:
The following table shows expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office, including its agencies but excluding Executive NDPBs, on (a) flat screen televisions, (b) DVD players and (c) stereo equipment in the last three years.

£

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

Flat Screen Televisions

(1)11,531

15,452

2,415

DVD Players

Nil

959

487

Stereo Equipment

82

273

Nil

Northern Ireland Prison Service

Details requested could be provided only by this agency at disproportionate cost.

Youth Justice Agency

(1)The figure of £11,531 in 2005-06 includes £8,308 which relates to the purchase of electrical equipment by the Youth Justice Agency. A breakdown of this figure - which may include expenditure in the above three categoriescould be provided only at disproportionate cost.

All expenditure has to be incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department assist special advisers; and what the cost of employing such staff was in each of the last three years. [237502]

Mr. Woodward:
One civil servant supports the special advisers within my private office, providing administrative support of a non-political nature in accordance with the "Code of Conduct for Special Advisers".

It would be inappropriate to disclose individual civil servants' salary details.

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Redundancy

Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many staff in his Department left under (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 2005-06; how many of them in each case were paid (i) up to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000 in the year before they left; and how much (A) was spent in each of those years and (B) is planned to be spent on such schemes in (1) 2008-09 and (2) 2009-10 by (Y) his Department and its predecessor (Z) each of his Department's agencies; [237345] [Official Report, 24 February 2009, Vol. 488, c. 1-2MC.]

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(2) how many of his Department's staff who left under (a) an involuntary and (b) a voluntary exit scheme in each year since 2005-06 received a severance package of (i) up to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000; and if he will make a statement. [239152]

Mr. Woodward:
No staff have left the Department on an involuntary basis in the last three years. Currently there are no plans for involuntary exit schemes in the next two years.

The following table shows the number of staff who voluntarily left the Northern Ireland Office under early retirement or early severance schemes in each year.

Up to £25,000

£25,001 to £50,000

£50,001 to £75,000

£75,001 to £100,000

Over £100,000

Total

2005-06

13

3





1

17

2006-07

9

2

2





13

2007-08

6

3

1



10

Compensation for early departure is paid from the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. The Northern Ireland Office meets the cost of early departures, and this includes the cost of lump sum severance payments and the additional costs of benefits beyond the normal Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) benefits in respect of employees who retire early.

The following table shows expenditure on early departures in each year since 2005-06.